Prof William (Bill) Austin

Professor

Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3988
Email: wena@st-andrews.ac.uk

Research areas

Palaeoceanography, Marine Geology, Foraminifera, Stable Isotopes, Climate Change.

See Environmental Change Research Group for more information.

My research focus is directed primarily at reconstructing past climate change from marine records, with a particular focus on the late Quaternary. I work extensively with foraminifera and have a growing research interest in the use of biogeochemical proxies and their application to foraminiferal-based palaeoceanography. Over the last decade, I have established a research interest in the application of tephrochronology to constrain North Atlantic stratigraphies, an interest which overlaps with recent work on marine radiocarbon reservoir ages. The primary geographical focus of my research is the North Atlantic continental margins and shelf seas.

PhD supervision

Lauren Carl
Aysegul Dogan
Lauren South

Selected publications

Open access
From fjord to shelf: drivers of organic carbon transformation and storage across connected marine sedimentary systems
Smeaton, C., Hiles, W., Gulliver, P. & Austin, W. E. N., 11 May 2026, In: Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 40, 5, 15 p., e2025GB008738.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Holocene sea‐level and environmental changes on the Isle of Mull, Scotland
Selby, K. A., Wheeler, J., Austin, W. E. N., Austin, H., Hill, T., Bradley, S. L. & Derrett, S., 31 Jan 2026, In: Journal of Quaternary Science. 41, 3, p. 400-418 19 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Integrated ocean carbon research communications kit
Austin, W., 23 Feb 2026, UNESCO-IOC. 8 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open access
Priority questions for the next decade of blue carbon science
Macreadie, P. I., Biddulph, G. E., Masque, P., Kennedy, H., Samper-Villarreal, J., Megonigal, J. P., Morrissette, H. K., Romero-Gonzalez, T. E., Hatje, V., Friedrich, J., Sasmito, S. D., Watanabe, K., Mazarrasa , I., Krause-Jensen, D., Adams, J. B., Cifuentes-Jara , M., Arias-Ortiz, A., Rovai, A. S., Stankovic, M. & Isensee, K. & 9 others, Queirós , A. M., Chen, L., Herrera-Silveira, J., Hurd, C. L., Ismail, R., Krauss, K. W., Lafratta, A., Palacios, M. M. & Austin, W. E. N., 1 Apr 2026, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. AOP, p. 751-764 17 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Priority research questions to generate decision‐grade data to enable coastal ecosystems to mitigate the climate and nutrient crises
Watson, G. J., Aldridge, J., Anderson, L., Attrill, M. J., Austin, W. E. N., Bahr, K. D., Beaumont, N., Broszeit, S., Burden, A., Delgado‐Gargiulo, E., Drakou, E. G., Elliott, M., Filbee‐Dexter, K., Fulweiler, R. W., Garbutt, A., Hancock, B., Hardege, J. D., Harley, J., Hendy, I. W. & Hillman, J. R. & 27 others, Jickells, T. D., Lillebø, A. I., Lima, M. D. A. C., Macreadie, P. I., Martinetto, P., Mellan, J., Norkko, A., Parker, R., Perring, M. P., Pogoda, B., Pollack, J. B., Preston, J., Ragazzola, F., Saunders, J., Serrano, O., Smale, D. A., Smith, G., Thornton, A., Thrush, S., Tillin, H., Unsworth, R. K. F., van der Schatte Olivier, A., von der Heyden, S., Watson, S. C. L., Williamson, P., Woulds, C. & Zu Ermgassen, P. S. E., 1 Apr 2026, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 63, 4, e70373.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Priority setting of India's blue carbon ecosystems as nature-based solutions for climate, people and biodiversity
Austin, W. E. N., Kumar, V. V., Pathak, M., Parihar, S., Houston, A., Apine, E., Worthington, T., Ingle, K. N., Barathan, B. P., Behera, D. P., Patel, S., Sundaram, S., Bajaj, K., Vijay, N., Marigoudar, S. R., Munnoor, K., Khare, S., Dave, P. N., Vijay, A. & Gavali, D. & 8 others, Bhomia, R. K., Pandey, C., Sidik, F., Kennedy, H., Panda, U. S., Shah, D., Shukla, P. & Biddulph, G., 24 Jun 2026, In: Royal Society Open Science. 13, 6, 22 p., 252380.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
The role of English seabed sediments in carbon storage, impact of human activities, environmental pressures and potential management options: evidence review
Parker, R., Graves, C., Aldridge, J., Heal, R., Hughes, D., Mason, C., Powell, C., Austin, W., Bell, T., Clarkson, S., Elias, J., Hicks, N., Hiddink , J., Homoky, W., Hunt, C., Hunter, B., Ivanovic, A., Kaiser, M., Kennedy, H. & Marsh, M. & 21 others, Pereira, R., Rickard, P., Rippeth, T., Robinson, K., Sciberras, M., Smeaton, C., Vane, C., Williamson, P., Woodward-Rowe, H., Woulds, C., Bradshaw, C., Chatting, M., Coughlan, M., Diesing, M., Lønborg, C., O'Neill, B., Paradis, S., Porz, L., Rastrick, S., Tiano, J. & Zhang, W., 25 Feb 2026, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). 86 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Allochthonous organic carbon stored in blue carbon ecosystems can be additional and provide genuine climate mitigation
Houston, A., Kennedy, H. & Austin, W. E. N., 18 Apr 2025, In: Global Change Biology. 31, 4, e70182.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
A marine and salt marsh sediment organic carbon database for European regional seas (EURO-CARBON)
Graversen, A. E. L., Lønborg, C., Addamo, A. M., Pedersen, S. G., Chemello, S., Alejo, I., Apostolaki, E. T., Asplund, M. E., Austin, W. E. N., Berov, D., Berto, D., Björk, M., Black, K., Bobchev, N., Bonaglia, S., Borgersen, G., Bouma, T., Costello, M. J., Dahl, M. & Diaz-Almela, E. & 72 others, Dimitriou, P. D., Duarte, C. M., Dueñas, C. L., Efthymiadis, P. T., Elosegui, I. M., Espinosa, M. R., Filipsson, H. L., Fontela, M., Fredriksen, S., Frigstad, H., Gagnon, K., Garcia-Escudero, C. A., Giani, M., Grouhel-Pellouin, A., Guerra, R., Gullström, M., Gundersen, H., Hancke, K., Majtényi-Hill, C., Hunt, C., Inostroza, K., Karakassis, I., Karamfilov, V., Klayn, S., Koziorowska, K., Kuliński, K., Lavery, P., Lenstra, W. K., Lillebø, A. I., Logemann, E., Magni, P., Marbà, N., Marco-Mendez, C., Martins, M., Mateo, M. A., Monnier, B., Mueller, P., Neto, J. M., Papageorgiou, N., de Rezende, C. E., Pardo, J. C. F., Peña, J. A. J. D. L., Pergent, G., Piñeiro-Juncal, N., Preston, J., Rampazzo, F., Reithmaier, G., Reusch, T. B. H., Reynolds, S., Ricart, A. M., Santos, R., de los Santos, C. B., Santos, I. R., Serrano, E., Serrano, O., Slomp, C. P., Smeaton, C., Soler, M., Sousa, A. I., Spiegel, T., Stevenson, A., Thormar, J., Trannum, H. C., van Helmond, N. A. G. M., Paradis, S., Vizzini, S., Ward, E. A., Yau, Y. Y. Y., Zakhama-Sraieb, R., Zribi, I., Zygadlowska, O. M. & Jensen, D. K., 1 Jun 2025, In: Data in Brief. 60, 14 p., 111595.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Blue carbon in India: opportunities informed by the most recent science
Austin, W. E. N., Apine, E. & South, L., 28 Aug 2025, Zenodo. 94 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report

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